This invention relates to gas operated, automatic gatling-type guns, and relates more particularly to a pneumatic drive and/or control system therefor.
Gatling-type guns of the type referred to include an annular array of barrels carried in a common assembly which rotates to cause serial loading and firing of each barrel. Prior art examples of such weaponry may be found in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,849,921 of Otto; 2,989,900 of Grover; 3,331,284 of Case et al; 3,568,563 of Folson; and 3,886,843 of Hoffmann et al.
In certain arrangements such as the Folson U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,563 reference noted above, the gun is driven during normal firing operation by expanding exhaust gas channeled from the firing chambers to drive a reciprocating, intermittent motion vane motor such that gun operation is essentially self-sustaining once starting has been initiated. In such arrangements an external power source is utilized to effect initial acceleration and starting of the gun. Such prior art starting arrangements include electric motors or hydraulic systems which impose a substantial weight penalty upon the gun. Particularly in environments such as aircraft, the weight imposed by such electrical or hydraulic systems along with a relatively high sensitivity to the surrounding environmental conditions of extreme temperatures and pressures impose substantial problems and limitations.
Further, in the self-sustaining gatling gun drive described above as well as other types of gatling guns, the gun control system imposes similar penalties upon the entire gun, especially in aircraft environments. Prior art pneumatic systems utilized in conjunction with gatling-type guns, such as described in the above noted Hoffmann U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,843 are relatively complicated requiring a substantial number of pneumatic logic elements, and are generally unsatisfactory due to their complexity. Such prior art pneumatic systems characteristically utilize reciprocating pneumatic power motors, which requirement introduces substantial complexity into the control system.